Former IRS Employee and Three Others Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

Former IRS Employee and Three Others Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

PENSACOLA, FL—Four Pensacola residents, including a former IRS tax examiner, have been sentenced to prison for conspiring to file false claims for payment in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The sentences were announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

On June 30, 2015, Rosa M. Bonner, 52, and Ariyanna S. Lampley, 33, were sentenced to 27 months and 48 months in prison respectively. Both pled guilty on April 8, 2015. On July 16, 2015, Jimmie A. McCorvey, 41, and Marcia D. McCorvey, 42, were sentenced to 72 months and 12 months and one day in prison respectively. Jimmie McCorvey pled guilty on April 30, 2015, and Marcia McCorvey pled guilty on May 7, 2015.

During their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted their participation in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The conspiracy involved the filing of false claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”) alleging lost income as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. Between 2010 and 2012, the defendants agreed to have Jimmie McCorvey file false GCCF claims in their names and other names provided by Lampley, seeking more than $327,000 in payments for alleged lost earnings and profits as a result of the spill. Jimmie McCorvey fraudulently used Pensacola addresses to indicate that all claimants lived and worked in Pensacola. As a result of these false claims, GCCF paid $95,200 to the defendants.

Jimmie McCorvey, who was an IRS employee at the time, also admitted to conspiring with Lampley and others to prepare and file approximately 25 fraudulent federal income tax returns between 2009 and 2011, resulting in the issuance of more than $62,000 in tax refund checks. The fraudulently obtained tax refund checks were deposited in bank accounts controlled by Lampley, who paid Jimmie McCorvey a portion of each check. Jimmie McCorvey also pled guilty to aggravated identity theft for fraudulently using other people’s identities in both schemes.

This case resulted from investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia Kim.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. The office strives to protect and serve the citizens of the Northern District of Florida through the ethical, vigorous, and impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States, to defend the national security, to improve the safety and quality of life in our communities through the protection of civil rights, and to protect the public funds and financial assets of the United States. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.